The Christmas ambiente is giving extra warmth to the city of Oslo. Today I was walking in the city and I saw a group of youth holding a banner which said " Changemaker". They were singing in the cold. What was it they were trying to sell I thought?I went back took a picture and continued my walk. It was too cold to inquire I thought I google them. I did and they are desparate to make changes. On their website (to which I said a prayer and blessed google translate) they say:
"Changemaker is the largest youth organization that is solely dedicated to development policies. We are young people between 13 and 30 who want to remove the fundamental causes of poverty and injustice in the world. Changemaker influence decision makers to make the world more just. Injustice is created by people; therefore it is also people who can stop injustice. Politicians, power institutions, businesses and individuals have the ability to change the world, and we try to influence them to do so. "
When I read that I said a prayer for all the youth who are members of this club and I thought Wow! Can you imagine they may have a 13 year old members who believes in removal of fundamental cause of poverty and injustice not only in Norway but in the world? I guess they have removed the cause of poverty in Norway and now come the world :) I am only partly joking. These youth seem not to be kidding; they are solely dedicated to development policies. But the most youthful and pure sentence was:
"Injustice is created by people; therefore it is also people who can stop injustice." I had to literally put my palm on my chest and say Oh! This is so innocent, so pure and true.
I remembered myself when I was 13 year old. I used to live in Iran then. The country was in war with Iraq. We had left our home and moved to a village. Poverty and injustice were the air we were breathing. Decision makers had made their decision to fight like two little boys and the rest of us had to pay with suffering. In the school as odd as it might sound we were given the choice to learn how to use guns and that was an extracurricular activity.
Junior youth are like sponge, they want to learn and absorb. They are neither kid nor do they belong to the grown up world. It is a very interesting period. I clearly remember I wanted to learn but more than that I wanted to belong. If they offered gun class, well, why not, I took it. It was exciting. Guns were for adults and it did make me feel I am considered someone. In what way did that help my personal development? In no way. Did that make me a better decision maker? Did I or any of us in that class learn to deal with poverty and injustice?
If someone had taught me that justice is in the heart, and it means to see with your own eyes and not the eyes of others then I would know immediately my heart loved life and respected the life of others. I would have then learned a music instrument.
If someone would have taught me that in order to remove poverty we should believe in Oneness of humanity, and that the earth is One country and we are it’s citizens, if someone would have taught me that the oil and all the other minerals in the womb of the mother Earth belong to all of us and if....and if....!
Maybe if I become a more virtuous person the world will become more just and prosperous.
My hope is that the ChangeMaker includes a virtues project in their endeavors specially with it’s very young members. At the end as they say so beautifully individuals are the ones who can change the world. Even the politician are individuals and we all need to learn about the virtue of justice in order not to follow just anybody.
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